Is Sainz Causing Issues Between Leclerc and Binotto at Ferrari? - [ Rumour Round-Up ]

Hey everyone, welcome to another edition of “Rumour Round-Up” and as with the others, all the stories contained within this are to be taken with a grain of salt and haven’t been officially substantiated but are things that are being talked about in the world of F1 that may be interesting, could turn out to be true, or simply plain wrong. Without further delay, here is Rumour Roundup…

0:00 - Leclerc And Binotto Have Allegedly Been Quarrelling For Months
1:46 - Rapid Rumours

Ferrari’s driver line-up consists of two young and dynamic drivers in the form of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. While they seem to be functioning well together along with team principal Mattia Binotto, recent rumors on Fanpage and F1 Sport suggest that tension has been brewing at Ferrari especially between Leclerc and Binotto with Sainz being the unwitting catalyst

I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Rumour Round-Up:

Leclerc And Binotto Have Allegedly Been Quarrelling For Months

Things apparently reached tipping point in Monza when Charles Leclerc and Mattia Binotto engaged in a rather public argument that supposedly involved name calling

Purportedly, FIA president Jean Todt’s son Nicholas Todt who acts as Leclerc’s manager had to step in to broker temporary peace

This altercation is being suggested as the reason why Leclerc ended up with nausea and illness because of which he had to get himself checked out at the medical centre prior to the Sprint Qualifying

Allegedly, this isn’t the first time the two had engaged in verbal spats and that such altercations had been going on for months behind closed doors

Apparently, it all has to do with new recruit Carlos Sainz’s arrival. While Leclerc has no personal issues with Sainz, it is claimed Binotto’s bias that is causing all the problems

Allegedly, Mattia Binotto sees Sainz as the more reliable driver and has asked the team to give preference to Sainz’s input over Leclerc’s when it comes to the development of the car and Leclerc has been very unhappy with this development


Rapid Rumors

Former Bridgestone engineer Kees van de Grint has implied that “there is a meeting next weekend where it will be decided [if Audi and/or Porsche will join F1 in 2026]” [Slipstream]

“They say that Porsche and Audi are both ready to join. The question is: how is that meant to be? Are they going to drive with the same engine? How are they going to enter?”, he questioned

“Will they join, will they pay the money? Who are they going to supply engines to? That is a big question because if they have to pay the money, that is a big investment”, he added

“It would then also mean looking for four drivers and that would be very interesting. We agree that there is too little room”, he pointed out

Allegedly 100% CO2 neutral fuels will be used from 2026 to further appeal to new teams entering F1 [AMuS]

The tickets for the race in Jeddah are expected to be among the costliest in the entire F1 calendar [France 24]

A spokesperson for the Singapore GP has stated that they are “in discussions with the Government and Formula 1 on the issue of hosting the FIA Formula 1 World Championship going forward” [Speedcafe]

“We are working towards a mutually beneficial outcome for all parties and will announce details in due course”

In case the Singapore GP can’t be held next year as well, Turkey will seemingly replace it for next year [AMuS]

Similarly, Imola will supposedly take over the hosting duties if the Chinese GP is cancelled again

Meanwhile, the surface of the track in Istanbul, Turkey has purportedly been treated to avoid a repeat of last year’s extremely low grip conditions


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SainzCausingIssues